


Broken Angels

by corvobiancos



Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, I promise, okay the character death thing isn't as bad as it sounds
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:46:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29066793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corvobiancos/pseuds/corvobiancos
Summary: Main stuff takes place many years following the Temperance ending, but expect flashback chapters whenever my inspiration runs dry to explain the big plot hole: V and Johnny have their own bodies here. One of my Tumblr mutuals said something about it being bullshit that they wouldn't have ways of treating the neural damage the Relic caused, and I completely agree! The six-month life expectancy is utter bullshit! Let V be a chromed-out old geezer like Kerry and Rogue!
Relationships: Female V/River Ward, Johnny Silverhand/Female V, Judy Alvarez/Female V, Kerry Eurodyne & Female V, Panam Palmer & Female V, Rogue Amendiares/Johnny Silverhand
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	1. CHAPTER ONE.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm trying out this new idea called Not Planning Every Story Beat Out Before I Start the Fic, since it seems that when I plan a fic out too much, I hit a roadblock where once I start writing the story doesn't quite go the way it's "supposed" to to fit the plot, and it becomes this Unstoppable Force/Immovable Object sort of deal. This fic is kind of going to be all over the place, and my first attempt at just doing one of those long aimless fics. Wish me luck!

**NIGHT CITY, 2106.**

God, why did he have to do this? Why couldn't Rogue just help him this _one_ time instead of making up some bullshit just to make him come _here?_

He sat in the 911 across the street from Lizzie’s Bar, locking eyes with one of the bouncers; a tall joytoy with pink hair that was almost as chromed-out as Lizzy Wizzy used to be. Everything that wasn't metallic was the old Realskinn shit, inked with every Mox tattoo he'd ever seen since he and Val first "met" decades ago. He could just _tell_ the bouncer was zooming her Kiroshis on him, sizing him up. And if Valerie really was the new boss at Lizzie's, that bouncer would be calling her right now to tell her he was out there.

— _SLAM!_

Johnny spun to see what hit the passenger door, seeing another Mox peering in the window. "V wants to know if you've grown some balls yet," she deadpanned. He was right, Val knew he was there.

"The fuck are you talking about?"

"You gonna sit out here all day or are you comin' in?" the Mox slung a katana over her shoulder, eyes fixed on his. She finished, "'S a no parking zone, sir; wouldn't want a beauty like this gettin' towed."

Johnny huffed, starting the Porsche up again and cutting across the street to park next to a bright pink Quadra at the front of the club with a license plate reading _"F1XR-UPR"_. Val used to want one of those back in the day, before they had even figured out how to deal with him in the first biochip. The chromed-out bouncer teased, "First time in? Feelin' nervous there?"

"Fuck off.”

"It's okay," she continued as he walked past her, "we'll be gentle."

Johnny was finishing his third refill when a woman leaned against the counter, and the bartender, after lackluster service when Johnny sat down, immediately perked up to serve her. “The usual, V?”

“Make it two,” Valerie’s voice replied, and Johnny finally worked up the nerve to meet her gaze. She was hardly the same as she was the last time he'd seen her. Her old black perforated Kiroshis were gone, replaced with newer ones that looked more natural if he ignored the blue irises that mirrored the neon blue of her hair. The one thing he recognized was the pair of dogtags he'd given to her back at the Pistis Sophia. He was a bit surprised, but he wasn't one to talk though—he still had the bullet pendant on at all times.

Their drinks arrived quickly; two tequila Old Fashioneds with a splash of cerveza and chili garnish. Maybe she wasn't _too_ pissed at him if his favorite cocktail was still her drink of choice. "Rogue said you'd be stoppin' by," Val mused, taking a sip, "Must be _real_ desperate if you came back to Night City, not to mention coming to _me_ for help. Whatever you're plannin' must be a big deal." she finished by flashing him a smile.

"How've you been?" He regretted those words as soon as they came out. They both hated small talk; he knew that.

She furrowed her brow, but flashed him a smirk anyway. "Y'know, just happy to be the one _sending_ mercs out these days." Val took another sip, "...Rogue didn't share any of the detes when she said you were on your way over, which has me thinking you need something more than something klepped."

"Said you had some intel on a Militech transport with some ordinance I need. Anti-aircraft kinda shit."

Valerie's smile disappeared. "Not here." She was already on her way to the back hall. He followed her past rows of empty BD booths, all ready for the evening's clientele. Val kept going, through the dressing room, through the basement, all the way to a hidden door he had never seen before, even when they shared a brain back in 2077. She popped open her palm and yanked out her personal link to unlock the door; an ancient system by today's standards. Most people had NFC chips nowadays.

Johnny said, "Personal link? Thought everyone would've upgraded those already."

"'S the only thing that opens this room," she explained, and after a few moments the door opened and she recalled the link back into her arm. "Only person that steps foot in here is me…And now you, I guess.”

"Till someone knocks you out and uses it anyway."

"Like to see 'em try." That wasn't an idle threat, either. She was the best netrunner he knew these days; had ICE that would take hours to break through, and if any assailants tried taking her down manually she _loved_ an excuse to use her mantis blades.

Everything in her office was older tech, some of it even older than she was. Wait...she'd once told him that her mother had done some work out of Lizzie's bar too...was this her old base?

Valerie motioned for him to have a seat on an old netrunner's chair, while she fished through a bookshelf. "Got a cargo manifest for that Militech transport you're after," she revealed a datashard, even more old tech. Must be her thing; how she keeps her reputation for discretion. "Been stockpiling heavy artillery like this for _years_."

She was right. There were people all over the feeds talking about another corporate war, this time between Arasaka and Militech. Nothing had come of it so far; Militech was the one that seemed to be wanting it more than Arasaka, but didn't have the balls to just come out and declare war yet. He slotted the shard in behind his ear.

"Militech's bringing in a technical this Friday in a convoy bound for one of their warehouses—transport it's in is marked on the shard." Valerie said, "Now, it's just the one so I'm thinkin' it's just a special order from one of those corpo assholes for some personal security team, but it's definitely outfitted with the kind of artillery you want."

As she spoke, he had been scanning through the documents on his holo. It was all standard megacorp paperwork, already decrypted and organized into a normal fixer dossier she would have handed out to mercenaries. The only thing missing from her shard was who she was going to pair him up with to take down the convoy. He popped it out, offering the shard back to her as she was lighting a cigarette; a stark contrast to what she was like when they met. She slipped the shard into her pocket and perched herself on the desk.

Johnny sat in silence for a moment before finally saying, "Look, I know I'm a badass but you're fuckin' high if you think I can hit a Militech convoy on my own."

"That's 'cause you're not. Still got a couple Aldecaldos that owe me. They can supply the kinda backup we need."

He didn't have the connections to that clan that she did. He couldn't just walk up to their camp and expect them to—hold on! "We?" he blurt out.

"You didn't think I'd trust you to go after anything related to a megacorp and _not_ fuck it up? I'm going with you."

"Hey! I nuked Arasaka HQ!"

"That was _well_ over a hundred years ago, and if I remember correctly you got your ass handed to you by Adam Smasher before Arasaka used Soulkiller on you. I don't know what you _think_ that was but I'd call that fucking up. Royally. 'Sides, the Aldecaldos are _family_. They'll do anything I ask 'em to." Judging by how vague she left it, Johnny figured her standing with the Aldecaldos wasn't the same 'family' it once was. Now he wondered what happened to make that change. He'd get that out of her sooner or later. Despite their history, they had never lied to each other, by omission or otherwise. Though that was a dual-edged sword; more often than not that type of absolute honesty had wrought havoc on their relationship. He noticed her eyes start glowing orange and after a moment she said, "You still the head honcho out there?"

Rude.

She didn't seem to care. Val continued,“Good to hear. Listen, I’m gonna need to cash in one of those favors…Well, according _my impeccably managed records_ I’ve still got a few left, so you might wanna think twice before you stand me up on this one…Hey, you _knew_ what you were in for when you had me set up that raid on the Shivs. Even _family_ won't do that kinda shit for free.”

There was a long pause.

“…Atta girl. Sending you the intel now.” Valerie’s eyes flashed blue, then went back to orange. “Take a look at that, and my friend and I’ll meet you out by the Sunset tomorrow night; go over the plan. Militech's got a convoy going through the badlands on Friday night; my friend and I 'll bring what you and the clan need to take ‘em out—“ Valerie flinched, “—You’re a big girl! Isn’t this how you people make your eddies? Raiding corpo convoys? _Fucking figure it out._ ” Val rolled her eyes, and they stopped glowing. “If she compares me to Rogue one more fuckin’ time—“ she muttered under her breath, snuffing her cigarette out.

“Somebody's been busy,” Johnny said.

“You don’t get to be as good as I am without pissing a few people off.”

That was putting it lightly. He remembered her and that nomad being pretty fucking close back in the day. Close enough apparently that Val joined their clan and immediately had them tunneling into Arasaka HQ's basement to get into Mikoshi. He wasn't there for that one; had to take Val's word for it when he got her engram back, but it still made him wonder what else Valerie did to make her call with Panam so...heated.

“ _Anyway,_ ” Valerie continued, “Still need to sort out a few things before we move on this.”

“Like what?”

Valerie sighed. “Need to be sure no one else is planning on hitting this convoy too.”

Johnny furrowed his brow.

"You _really_ think any gang in the city’s gonna pass up the chance to nab a brand new truck with a fuckin' cannon bolted down in the back?" She shook her head and took a moment to think before she finished, "...Gimme till morning. Should know by then if anyone else knows about this convoy. In the meantime, I’ve got a place up the street; you can crash there while you wait.”


	2. CHAPTER TWO.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s flashback time already! I warned you that this would be less of a longfic and more of a huge aimless anthology of drabbles and oneshots with a VERY thin plot tying it all together, so be ready for short chapters like this. I just have some Johnny/V feels that I need to work out and this is my outlet!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I wrote this in like...a night and decided that proofreading is for chumps so let's just say that any typos were completely intentional, eh?

**BADLANDS OUTSIDE NIGHT CITY, 2082.**

Val hadn’t said a word since he slotted her in. She just stood in the corner of the shed watching the dust storm outside, ignoring Johnny every time he tried to talk to her. He expected something more like when they first met; maybe Valerie calling him a _pendejo_ a few times. Or at least for her to strangle him.

_Something._

But no, she was giving him the silent treatment. Five years of watching Arasaka execs to find a Relic, finding a netrunner that would—that _could_ go beyond the Blackwall and bring her back. All that bullshit, and she wasn’t even talking to him.

This was supposed to make him feel whole again; she was supposed to be impressed—

“Believe me, I am.” Hearing her voice almost caught him off guard. She finally stepped toward him, glitching out and reappearing again, looming over him with her hands on her hips. “…I thought I was pretty clear in Mikoshi.”

“Could say the same thing.” A shitty defense, but at least she was finally talking.

Valerie shook her head and had a seat on the coffee table. “I made my choice, and you took it from me.”

“I brought you back!”

“I _told_ you I wanted you to have a second chance and the _first thing_ you do is drag me back? The whole _point_ was for you to fuck off with the Aldecaldos or some shit. Now you just doomed us to the same fucking death I was trying to _avoid!_ ”

_There_ was the yelling.

She noticed too. Valerie paused, taking a breath. “…Why’d you it?” It wasn’t really a question, though. Her deadpan tone and the look in her eye told him she knew the answer anyway. “I gave you a body bursting at the seams with cyberware. _Tons_ of eddies too. You could be on some fancy-ass yacht somewhere doing lines off some joytoy’s tits, but…here we are. What the fuck, Johnny?”

The real Silverhand probably would’ve leapt at the chance to blow all of her money like that. Maybe not off a joytoy’s tits, but there would be lines being done off _someone’s_ tits. Hell, he considered doing that when Alt first gave Val the idea…But that Johnny Silverhand was dead. Had been for decades.

He didn’t want to say why he brought her back; he figured she already knew the answer or at least had read his mind already, just like the old days.

_Just say it for me already._

When he glanced back up at her she was sitting beside him on the old couch, shaking her head. Valerie said, “Nope.”

So what was he supposed to say?

That his mind was too quiet without her there?

That when he looked in the mirror _another_ dead girlfriend was looking back at him?

That hearing _her_ voice every time he spoke was driving him insane?

Fuck, he couldn’t look at her _and_ say this. Johnny sighed, shutting his eyes and hanging his head.“Fine. I missed havin’ you around. Happy?”

…He felt a hand slowly reach over and lace its fingers with his. Then a head on his shoulder before Val muttered, “I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah yeah yeah I know it just kind of...ends. But think of this more as an anthology that bounces around than one big fic with one big story arc, okay? Sure there's this future-timeline stuff, but there will also be a LOT of flashback stuff as filler and world-building.


End file.
